First Ride: 2010 Aston Martin Rapide

Beauty, performance and seating for four - sounds good!

As an automotive journalist for a national car magazine, I rarely sit in the back seat of a car. But when the opportunity to be chauffeured in an arose, I couldn't say no. I'm so enamored with the car's looks that the prospect of a 6-hour tour of Los Angeles traffic in a development car sounded intriguing, even if I didn't have the chance to drive.

I was met at The Standard hotel in downtown L.A. by Francesca Smith, PR Manager, and two Electrical engineers: Stuart Jeff and Ian Robertson. Smith is here to make sure I don't weasel my way into the driver's seat.

The real reason for this drive? To benchmark the Bang & Olufsen stereo's FM-radio reception. I was along to sample the ride and get technical insight into the production and development of Aston's first sedan since the Lagonda. A bit of history: When David Brown bought Lagonda and Aston Martin, back in 1947, he used the Lagonda name to designate the sedans he built. The Lagonda Rapide is not a new name, but this is the first time Rapide has appeared on an Aston Martin that isn't also labeled a Lagonda.

The engineers are here to record the quality of the Rapide's radio reception in the L.A. area. They've never tested a car in L.A., so the Rapide will be the baseline for future models. Our first test consisted of a loop around the block while listening to KOST 103.5 FM. The home of "soft rock" is not exactly my choice for a radio station; I'm glad the engineers hadn't given me a clipboard and asked me to truly participate in the test. And besides, my ears have been abused by years of a youth that enjoyed loud exhausts and still approves of Nine Inch Nails.

The Rapide had already been tested in different locations, so the B&O radio performed very well. The thought of testing radio reception may seem silly to some, but Aston doesn't want a 3-foot tall antenna on its Rapide. The Rapide is sans bumps, divots and tentacles. Its body is smooth and crisp, with flush handles and narrow body gaps. To achieve this; the radio antennas are embedded into the windshield. Three antennas, to be specific; AM on the driver's side, with an identically shaped FM antenna on the passenger side and another vertical FM antenna down the middle.

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Why the necessity of two FM antennas? Because the carbon body of the Rapide blocks radio waves, and with only one antenna in the windshield the chances are high that it will lose signal for brief moments. With two antennas in different locations, the chance of both losing the signal at the same time is tiny.

Fancy gear measured radio reception in different ways. Overall signal strength is measured, as well as detracting factors such as multipath reception and adjacent channel interference. Multipath reception is like hearing a radio station's broadcast as it reflects off tall buildings. The stereo has to filter out all the duplicates. In downtown L.A. there are lots of tall buildings that reflect, making for numerous echoes, but none can be heard in the music coming from the Rapide's 15 speakers. Yes, 15.

The was the first Aston Martin with B&O audio; it's standard equipment in the Rapide. It's also seen on certain and the new AMG SLS. The 15-channel system in the Rapide is simple to use, but incredibly complex. Each channel is actively filtered to optimize the sound stage of the listener. How the system filters depends on the number of passengers. The beauty of a car audio system is that there's a fixed space to work with, so it can be tuned to perfection. It senses when seatbelts are engaged and thus who's sitting where. If it's just a driver, it optimizes for that. Have a passenger? Then it balances the front seats. But if either of the rear belts is clicked, the stereo adjusts to create a sound stage in the middle of the car. It also adjusts for the car's speed and notices when the windows are rolled down. Our home audio systems don't do all that.

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